Film loading guide



Allg 26, 1952 J. L. BREARTON 12,608,3577

FILM LOADING GUIDE Filed June 8, 1949 Lgf MH im fili.' Y

Patented Aug. 26, 1952 UN ITE'D"l S PATENT O FFI CE .JqlinLfgBieeriem Sereenezllf i.Y .Application dunes, 1949;'Serial-:Nmliillt` guide.

35 vmm.. :motion pciurerlm @sensed fby any fof several `still cameras-generally classiedas mima.

tures, AVis usually :processed .ein lengths,l of somes thing over inve feet: fro1bedevelopcd.vthe Eiilm `is inserted into 1a..sp.0.o1 especially provided forthe purpose which hasxan arrangement fforfspacing the turns of :the lmfuponffthefspool to provide space between the:.turns for thefvaetiony ofwthe.

processing solutions; fOne .1 difficulty. .attending such processngmethod and-arrangement isvthat the vfilm 4must :beloadediupon the spool fin .com

plete darkness. .'"Ihe processor'loading `the spoo1 therefore, has onlyuthe sense :of :touch vto .guide him during fthisfoperation.-` ".Because .of this, it usually vtakes the development of considerable facility obtained: only with experience to `fload Such` afspoolinfafreasonable :length foftimewthout the everpresent danger of touchingetheemulsion side lof vithe nlm, which -shouldfalways tbe protected against :any :such contact. I*Even e with considerable `experience this operation still is rather painstaking: and because=no`rmal1y Vthefuser of such processing-methods may `notiload a spool for extended periods, what facility is vacquired at one loading may fbe largely-llostrhettveenv suc.- cessive loadings ItV is therefore ronefofthe'fobjects-'of-fthe present invention to provide "alnovelfrdevice fwhich5 isin tended to be used with a fllmeprocessing-rtanlceof comparatively standard constrction for-facilitating .the `placing :of `riilrn fupon fthe processing spool.

Another obj ect"l lsito provide fsucheas'device at f low cost.

Still anotherV obj ect iseto :provide such fav'iilm Vloading guide -which may-be usedwithspoolsfnow widely in use with only slight modification `of such spools.

Other objects -and-fadvantagesffwill loecomeapparent from the `following `description eof a preferred embodiment of myinventionwhiclr is illus.

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Wherrthe lrn iiqi'dicated by the nunjreral-IS has been-pushed into the 4*groove IB the loadelspool is'n thenwplacedjin-aftankwith-a cover having an opening therein through which .chemicals may `loey poured to-fill orsempty -the stank. This opening usuallyis providedwitlfi af light Atrap so tliat` the' tank may be. lledfaridf-empted in ordinary light.y

One `of the ydifficultiesoccasioned lin` the irse 'of such` aspool Vand.wit1fi` suchelm loading methods. is that the-lmmay-pushinto the' groove i SM-for a distance of several fet-andthen bind so was to makelche insertion of'` the-remaining portion of groove in the spool expands the curvature in the film so that the film is more straight, Because of this, the film has a tendency to try to feed itself into the groove, since it always isadvancing toward the portion of the groove ofsmaller'.

Some cameras, however, take up the diameter.

4 V words, slightly less in width than the unx'pose side edges of the film.

The upper strip 28 is substantially the duplicate of the lower strip 30 excepting that although the tabs 34 which are disposed above the tabs 32 are spaced only slightly therefrom and are somewhat downwardly olset, the portion of the upper strip 28 which connects the .tabs V34 -with the tubular portion 24 slants upwardly toward the tubular portion so that it does not touch the upper surface of the film.

" 4The device is used in the following manner.

iilm upon a spool which turns in a reverse direction, that is, with the emulsionside of the film outwardly. If lm which has been exposed is left-in such a camera for some length oftime or, for instance, if the major portion of the lrn in the'camera has been exposed forv a few days and then the last few pictures upon the spool are taken and the film rewound back into the casette and immediately taken out for loading into theV lm tank, it will be found that the film will have very little curvature and may under some conditions be almost straight or even curled backwardly slightly. Under theseconditions great difliculty is frequently encountered in loading a developing spool of the type shown in Fig. '1 in the conventional manner.

The loading device which forms the subject matter of the present invention may be made of light gauge sheet metal or of a plastic or similar material. It comprises a generally tubular section 20 which is shaped to providea relatively the portion of the lm within the tube will be r buckled transversely so as to' have a convex upper surface and a concave lower surface.V The oval shaped top of the tube is formed soas not to touch the top face of the film at any point.-

To facilitate insertion of the end of the film into this tubular portion, the extreme end is flared to form a funnel shaped entrance 26. The tubular portion just described including the funnel like entrance is approximately two and onehalf inches long and is integrally connected with a pair of outwardly extending upper andlower strips 28 and 33, respectively. The lower strip may be considered as an extension of the flat bottom surface 22 excepting that preferably it is somewhat narrower and is formed at its extreme end with a pair of outwardly diverging tabs 32. These tabs preferably are offset slightly upwardly above the bottom surface 22. The width between the extreme ends of these two tabs is approximately the same as the width of the lm to be processed andthe portions of these tabs which are upwardly offset are slightly less in width than the width of the perforations at the edge of the lm to be processed or, in other The-end of a length of film l5 to be loaded is pushed into the funnel like opening 26 and is thus compressed transversely so as to have an upwardly vbowed surface in transverse section.

The film is pushed through the tube 20 and .beyond so that the end of the film passes between the tabs 34 and 32. Although the portion of the film passing through the tubular section 2U is compressed transversely and therefore bowed, asY

soon as the edges Aof the film are released by passing beyond the `end of this 'tubular portion the lm spreads laterally andflattens out so .that when it reaches the tabs 34 it is substantially fiat. The length of the extensions 2B and 30, therefore, which connect the tabs 34 and 32. to the tubular portion 20 shouldbe whatever is necessary to permit the film to expand laterally into a flat condition after passing beyond the tubular portion20. There willalso bea certain minimum dimension for this .section which is determined by the diameter of thel spool upon whichthe iilm is loaded, as will appear presently;

After the end of the .film has been inserted into the loading device inthe manner described so that the end of the film has 'just passed through between thetabs 34 and 32, the tabsare inserted into the peripheral Aends, of the spiral slots I6. The reel is then rotated so .as to vcause the spiral groove I6 to advance toward the tabs 34 and 32, thereby causingthese tabsv to follow a spirally inward path to the center of the spool'. It usually requires about ve to six revolutions of the spool to accomplish this; 1 Y

By referring to Fig; l it willn be seen that as the tabs spiral inwardly toward the spool center the main portion of the device of the present invention extends outwardly approximately tangentially to the groove. The :length of the extensions 28 and 30 should therefore beat least equal to the distance between the periphery of the spool and the inner end of the groovein a direction tangential to the groove. The inward edges of the ribs i3 prevent the edgewise compressed lm from expanding'and in fact the space between these ribs isi approximately the same as the internal vdimension acrossV the tubu-l lar portion 24. Y

When the tabs 34 and 32 havereached the inner endA of V the spiral grooves,i the film is pushed slightly into the tu'bulari portion 24.so that' a small amount offlmfprojects beyond the tabs 34 and 32 where it'can 'be'grasped'and held against retraction '.by one.; of the i processors lingers. If desired, this short section off film can be projected beyond the tabs 34andA 32 beforeV rotated to back"cnil-,fthey tabs=341 and 32 while the nlm" continuously passes into the grooves 16. In other words, thefilm fdoe's not follow the tool as the tool is backed out of the grooves i6 after the iirst revolution or so. As the reel is spun in a rearwardly direction the film flows evenly into the slots I6 until the end of the iilm is reached, after which continued rotationV of the reel in the same direction causes the tool -to reach the peripheral ends of the slotsv I6. The loaded reel is then placed in the4 processing tank in the usual manner.

Becauseof the slight upward oiiset of the tabs SZandUthe similar downward 'offset of the tabs 34" and because `the nlm has a `concavelower surface opposed to the iiat :surface 22 of the bottom of the tool and a convex upper surface which is less convex than the upper portion of the tube it will be seen that the film is handled by the tool entirely by its edges during the inserting operation. Itis apparent, therefore, that the entire process of loading the film into the spool does not at any time bring any apparatus into contact with either face of the film excepting for the small portion of the nlm at the edges which is beyond the light exposed area.

Preferably the material of which the guide is fabricated should be stiff enough so that the tabs 34 and 32 will not inadvertently be sprung out of the grooves I6, but some iiexibility is advisable so as to prevent the ribs I8 from being chipped or broken if the outward end of the tool' is accidentally swung too far away from a plane tangential to the grooves I6. If desired, this flexibility can be achieved by reducing the Width of the extensions 28 and 30 as shown at 36.

The loading operation is seen to be simply one of pushing the film into the funnel like opening with one iinger held beyond the tabs 34 and 32 until the film projects slightly and touches the nger. The tabs are then inserted in the groove and the reel spun to cause these tabs to move to the center. The film is then held while the reel is turned backwardly for a revolution or so after which the reel is rotated to spin the tool to the outside. These operations are all of an extremely simple nature and well adapted to be performed in total darkness by a person who does not need to be skilled in the operation of the device.

The loading operation described above is based upon the use of a conventional spool of a type now widely in use. There are some spools, however, in which the ianges can be pulled apart and squeezed together. In loading such a spool with the device of the present invention an alternative procedure may be employed. Instead of starting the tabs of the tool at the peripheral end of the groove and then running these tabs into the center by turning the spool, it is possible to pull the spool flanges apart slightly so that the tabs may be inserted directly into the film groove at the center of the spool, after which the spool iianges are squeezed together to embrace the tabs. The tool is then backed outwardly in the previously described manner to lay the lm in the groove.

Although the invention has been described largely in connection with processing 35 mm. lms, it is equally adapted to the processing of strip iilm of other sizes, the specific size chosen being intended merely to serve as a concrete example.

Although I have illustrated and described one form of my invention it will be appreciated that the invention may be embodied in alternative formel1 -The scope :of :the invention therefore is' to be measuredby the appended'rclaims;

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and useful and desireto` secure by Letters Patent of theUnited States is:v

l. `A` photographic nlm loadingguidelfor load inglilm upon a film,processingspoollof the type :having inwardly facing spiral grooves extending 'from' its peripherygto a point :adjacent its axial center, comprising a tubularl member having a substantially flatibottom and a convex top portion with the transverseinternal dimer` sion between the edges of thelrflat portion being somewhatlless thanth'e" widthlof a film strip to be .gu'idedffsaid tubular 1 portion "te'rn'iina'gting -in upper and lower'ex'tens'ions to'fprovlde'upper andlower tabs having a width such as to be embraced and guided by the spiral grooves of the spool as the tabs move outwardly from the axial center of the spool, the film to be loaded extending and passing through said tubular member and between said extensions and said tabs.

2. A nlm loading device for loading photographic strip ilm upon a processing spool of the type having inwardly facing spiral grooves extending from its periphery to a point adjacent its axial center, comprising means forming upper and lower sets of tabs which together are adapted to flt the grooves in the spool so as to form a film passing space between the tabs of each set, and means carrying said tabs and forming a nlm embracing member adapted to hold a fllm strip to be loaded by its edges and having a width such as to cause transverse compression of the film, said film embracing member forming a handle by means of which the device is manipulated.

3. A film loading device for loadingl photographic stripv film upon a processing spool of the type having inwardly facing spiral grooves extending from its periphery to a point adjacent its axial center, comprising means forming upper and lower sets of tabs which together are adapted to fit the grooves in the spool so as to form a film passing space between the tabs of each set, and means attached to said tabs forming a film embracing member adapted to hold a film strip to be loaded by its edges and having a width such as to cause transverse compression of the fllm, said nlm embracing member being so orientated relative to said film passing space as to cause film passing through said embracing member to be guided therethrough, and said film embracing member forming a handle by means of which the device is manipulated.

e. A photographic lm loading guide for loading lm upon a lm processing spool of the type having inwardly facing spiral grooves extending from its periphery to a point adjacent its axial center, comprising a tubular member having substantially a lia-t bottom and a convex top portion with the transverse internal dimension between the edges of the at portion being somewhat less than the width of a nlm strip to be guided, said tubular portion terminating in upper and lower extensions to provide a film passing space, said extensions having a width at their outer ends such as to be embraced and guided by the spiral grooves of the spool and having a narrower transverse dimension between said outer ends and said tubular portion so as to pass freely between the sides of the spool.

5. A lm loading guide for manually loading photographic strip nlm into a processing spool of the type having inwardly facing spiral grooves extending from its outer periphery to a point ad- 7. jacent its axial center, 'comprising a tubular handle member havinga substantially flat bottom and a convex top portion with the transverse internal dimension between the edges of the at bottom being somewhat less than the width of a film strip to be guided so that the lm held within said tubular member is convexly curved, forwardly projecting converging extensions connected to said tubular member and between which the lm to be guided is passed and terminating in facing upper and lower tabs, said tabs having a width such as to be embraced and guided in the spiral grooves of the spool, whereby'one end of the strip film is held by said tubular member as the device is guided inwardly along the spiral grooves to their inner ends and the strip film is paid out through VsaidV member and between said extensions and said tabs into the spiral grooves as the device is moved outwardly along the spiral grooves.

' JOHN L. BREARTON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the Vfile of this patent: 

